Landslide investigations commence
Friday, 17 October 2003 17:24
A number of seperate investigations have been launched into the landslide which occurred near the village of Derrybrien in Co Galway last night.
Work has also been suspended on a wind farm which is being built in the area by an ESB subsidiary company, Hibernian Wind Power.
The company says it has launched a thorough technical investigation into the incident and is cooperating with Galway County Council which is carrying out its own enquiry.
Earlier, county council officials sealed off the road leading to the site of the latest landslide.
Residents in the Derrybrien area called for an immediate investigation by the Department of the Environment and the Health and Safety Authority into the landslide on a remote mountain site.
There were no injuries, but the spokesman for the Derrybrien Concerned Residents' Association, Martin Collins, said they were worried by the damage to forestry, farmland and an important fishing river.
It is believed that about 70 acres of mountainside in the Slieve Aughty Range has been disturbed.
Local people say thousands of tons of peat and debris rolled down the mountain, close to a site where a large wind energy farm is being developed.
- 6.01 News: Jim Fahy, Western Correspondent, reports
- Morning Ireland: FG Senator Ulick Burke was at the scene last night, but reports that the damage has not been as bad as the Mayo landslides and no-one was injured
- 1.00 News: Jim Fahy, Western Correspondent, reports on concerns of local residents and council officials at the landslide in Derrybrein
- 9.00 News: Western Correspondent Jim Fahy reports from Co Galway
